In my twenty-six years as owner of Camp Takajo, rarely do things occur in camp that I haven’t seen before until last night. In one of our senior bunks, there was one camper struggling to acclimate. With the best of intentions, the bunk tried to work together to create a cohesive unit. I often think what we, as adults, would do if we were asked to live in such close proximity with our peers for seven weeks. Giving up one’s personal space and freedom that exists at home is often a great challenge.
Teaching our boys to be compassionate and to think of someone else’s needs are some of the most important skills that we can teach in camp. However, we are not always successful.
Last night, a group of boys in a bunk neighboring the struggling camper’s bunk came into my office and asked to have a moment of my time. They noticed that this camper was having difficulty and felt that the boys in his current cabin had made up their minds that this combination was simply not going to work. These boys asked my permission to go to the other bunk and ask this struggling camper to join their cabin.
“We are a happy group of campers and we love camp,” one of the boys said. “We want him to experience all that Camp Takajo has to offer.” We often talk about the camp’s Arch Ideals and the importance of helping others. This simple act of kindness will forever be remembered by this camper and myself– Magnanimity.
